Review: Nightwing Annual #1

Imagine
this scenario: You’re at a party watching a friend chat someone up. They’re
awkward, coming up with all manner of clumsy conversation and lame humour. And
yet somehow, it works. And this other person they’re cozying up to is buying every
second of it. Maybe they’ve set the bar low for some reason, but for no reason
you can fathom, this whole scenario may actually lead somewhere.

There’s a
scene like that in the Nightwing
annual that plays out in just as unlikely a manner. Is Dick Grayson channeling
a bit of Bruce Wayne’s playboy persona? Perhaps. But reading that scene is like
watching some miraculous train wreck in which everyone survives.

Another
moment in which belief must be suspended is when Batgirl arrives with a
super-secret war wagon – I believe it’s referred to as a Batcave on wheels –
complete with collection of everyone’s favorite ‘80s albums. I have to wonder
where she gets such fabulous toys, but in the world of super-heroes, some are
no doubt confiscated from the super-villains. In this case, it’s the Penguin’s
party bus.

But despite
such Batman ’66 camp aside, this is a
fabulous reunion of writer Benjamin Percy and artists Otto Schmidt. They did
very well together on Green Arrow a
couple of years ago, and I anticipate equal success on Nightwing. Schmidt has a rendering style that is equal parts
Playboy and Hanna-Barbera. Others might struggle to make that work, but he
makes it look easy.